The Latest: US service member dies because of coronavirus

Residents of the densely populated Hillbrow district of Johannesburg look over the high wall of their residence, Sunday March 29, 2020. South Africa went into a nationwide lockdown for 21 days in an effort to control the spread of the coronavirus. Mixed patrols of police and private security companies roam the streets to enforce the lockdown. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death.(AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

The Latest on the coronavirus pandemic. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death.

TOP OF THE HOUR:

— Navy hospital ship arrives in New York City.

—Japan urges head of WHO to help speed vaccines.

—Italy sees slowdown in rate of new cases.

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WASHINGTON — Secretary of Defense Mark Esper says a New Jersey Army National Guardsman is the first U.S. service member to pass away because of the new coronavirus.

The guardsman died on Saturday, according to the Pentagon. The person had tested positive for COVID-19 and had been hospitalized since March 21.

“This is a stinging loss for our military community,” Esper says in a release, “and our condolences go out to his family, friends, civilian co-workers and the entire National Guard community. The news of this loss strengthens our resolve to work ever more closely with our interagency partners to stop the spread of COVID-19.”

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WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency has a message for Americans — watch what you flush.

“Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is encouraging all Americans to only flush toilet paper,” the agency says in a statement.

Americans are using far more disinfecting wipes in the coronavirus outbreak, the EPA noted, but disposing of them improperly threatens plumbing, sewer and septic systems.

EPA news statements on aspects of the pandemic shutting down economies and societies around the globe have been limited and include addressing the effectiveness of disinfectants.

The EPA says it’s critical that the nation have “fully operational wastewater services” to contain the virus and protect against other health risks.

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says America will be sending surplus equipment to European nations to help them combat the new coronavirus.

Trump says as U.S. companies ramp up production of ventilators, the U.S. will be able to send excess ventilators to Italy, France, Spain and other hard-hit countries when possible.

Trump, speaking at a coronavirus briefing in the White House Rose Garden, says he spoke with the Italian prime minister on Monday and that the U.S. will be sending about $100 million in medical and hospital items to Italy.

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WASHINGTON — Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar says the U.S. has tested more than 1 million samples for the coronavirus — a number he says exceeds that of any other country.

It wasn’t clear if that figure represented actual patients or samples processed. With a population of over 330 million, 1 million patients tested would represent about one-third of one percent of all Americans.

By comparison, South Korea has tested roughly twice as many people as a percentage of its population.

Public health experts have estimated the U.S. should be testing between 100,000 and 150,000 patients daily to track and contain the virus.

Azar said the U.S. is testing “nearly 100,000 samples per day.”

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The new coronavirus is even having an impact on Colombia’s armed conflict.

One of the nation’s last guerrilla groups — the National Liberation Army — has announced a unilateral ceasefire beginning April 1.

The rebel group says in a statement it will cease hostilities “as a humanitarian gesture with the Colombian people, who are suffering from the devastation of the coronavirus.”

The United Nations secretary general had urged a ceasefire and welcomed the news.

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BATON ROUGE, La. — Gov. John Bel Edwards says he will extend Louisiana’s stay-at-home order through the end of April as the number of Louisiana deaths from the COVID-19 disease jumped significantly overnight.

Louisiana’s health department reported 185 residents have died from the disease caused by the virus, an increase of 34 from a day earlier. Edwards has said Louisiana has the second-highest COVID-19 death rate per capita among states, and he has warned the New Orleans region is running low on ventilators the hardest-hit patients need.

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WASHINGTON — Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she wants the House to be ready as soon as it returns to approve a fourth bill boosting the economy and strengthening the response to the virus.

Pelosi, D-Calif., and two House committee chairmen told reporters they want the package to improve broadband and water infrastructure, bolster hospitals and state and local governments and extend direct payments to Americans. They said it should also strengthen safety requirements for first responders and medical workers and broaden workers’ leave for caring for relatives.

The House left Washington on Friday after approving the $2.2 trillion economic relief bill that President Donald Trump has signed, and plans to return as soon as April 20.

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TORONTO — A Canadian nursing home has seen seven COVID-19 deaths and at least 24 staff members infected.

The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit says the outbreak at Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon, Ontario is believed to be the largest in the province.

The health unit says 10 other staff members are awaiting test results, and another person in the community has died in a case linked to the nursing home.

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Public health officials and researchers say social distancing appears to be helping slow the spread of COVID-19 in the Seattle area, where many of the first U.S. deaths occurred.

Dr. Jeff Duchin, the public health officer for Seattle and King County, says a new analysis by the Bellevue-based Institute of Disease Modeling provides a powerful indication that the region needs to double-down on the policies it’s already adopted.

In two papers released Monday, the Institute for Disease Modeling acknowledged that much remains unknown about rates of infection, but based on available data and a variety of assumptions, its computer models suggest that a measure of transmission — an estimate of how many people are infected by each person who is already infected — has fallen.

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TORONTO — Air Canada will temporarily lay off more than 15,000 unionized workers beginning this week as the airline struggles with fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

The layoffs will continue through April and May amid drastically reduced flight capacity from the Montreal-based airline. Canada’s largest airline says the two-month furloughs will affect about one-third of management and administrative and support staff, including head office employees, in addition to the front-line workers.

The carrier is also cutting between 85% and 90% of its flights, canceling most of its international and U.S. routes in response to the global shutdown. Earlier this month Air Canada’s flight attendant union said 5,149 cabin crew would be temporarily laid off.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The District of Columbia has issued a stay-home order for all residents as the number of positive infections from the new coronavirus continue to rise.

Mayor Muriel Bowser’s government ordered Washington’s approximately 7,000,000 residents to only leave home for essential shopping or medical care or work at businesses classified as essential. The order permits “allowable recreational activities” — essentially walking or bike riding alone or with your family while maintaining social distancing with others.

Any violators may be charged with a misdemeanor.

Although Washington, D.C., is not a state, Mayor Muriel Bowser essentially functions as a governor and issued the order in coordination with identical moves from Virginia Governor Ralph Northam and Maryland Governor Larry Hogan.

Washington’s infection numbers have climbed steadily for the past week to 401. Nine people have died, including a senior member of Bowser’s staff.

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SEATTLE — At least 12 workers and four patients at Washington state’s largest psychiatric hospital have tested positive for the new coronavirus and one patient has died from the disease, officials said.

The 85-year-old Western State Hospital patient tested positive on March 21 and died last Thursday, the Washington Department of Health and Human Services told The Associated Press. The other patient who tested positive has since fully recovered, the agency said. Western state workers have been critical of the administration’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

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TAMPA, Fla. — Florida officials have arrested the pastor of a megachurch after detectives say he held two Sunday services with hundreds of people and violated a safer-at-home order in place to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

According to jail records, Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne turned himself in to authorities in Hernando County, where he lives. He was charged with unlawful assembly and violation of a public health emergency order. Bail was set at $500, according to the jail’s website, and he was released after posting bond.

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UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. humanitarian chief is warning that the 10 cases of COVID-19 and one death confirmed in Syria are just “the tip of the iceberg” and judging from other countries “a devastating impact” can be expected on vulnerable communities.

Mark Lowcock told the U.N. Security Council that “all efforts to prevent, detect and respond to COVID-19 are impeded by Syria’s fragile health system,” noting only around half of the country’s hospitals and primary health care facilities were fully functional at the end of 2019.

He said efforts to prevent and combat the virus are also are impeded by high levels of population movement, challenges to obtaining critical supplies including protective equipment and ventilators, and difficulties of isolating in crowded camps for the displaced with “low levels of sanitation services.”

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WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has ordered an additional 8,000 ventilators, with delivery of the first 1,400 by early May. The $84.4 million order was placed with several suppliers under existing Defense Logistics Agency contracts.

A Pentagon spokesman, Air Force Lt. Col. Michael Andrews, identified the four suppliers as Zoll, Combat Medical, Hamilton Medical, and VyAire. Andrews said delivery locations will be prioritized by FEMA and the Department of Health and Human Services. These are in addition to the 2,000 ventilators that the Pentagon previously said it would make available to FEMA from Defense Department stockpiles.

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SAN FRANCISCO — The leaders of six San Francisco Bay Area counties are extending their shelter at home orders until May 1.

The region of seven million people was the first in the United States to issue such an order, and it has been credited for helping address the influx of coronavirus patients at local hospitals.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed thanked residents for following the order during the weekend, saying compliance was much better than the previous weekend when some people flocked to parks and beaches.

At least 130 people have died in California from COVID-19.

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WASHINGTON — New York Rep. Nydia Velázquez, a Democrat who attended Friday’s House session to pass a $2 trillion rescue package, says Monday in a statement that she has a presumed coronavirus infection.

Velázquez, who represents parts of Brooklyn and Manhattan, stood within feet of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic and Republican leaders at a signing ceremony after the bill was passed.

Velázquez, 67, says in the statement that she began to feel ill Sunday morning and spoke to the Capitol’s attending physician by phone. She says she was diagnosed with a presumed infection but has mild symptoms and is isolating at home, as the doctor recommended.

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MOSCOW — The mayor of St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city, has ordered a wide-ranging lockdown.

The measure sets the same conditions as in Moscow. Residents are ordered to stay at home except for medical emergencies, buying food and medication, disposing of garbage and walking pets within 100 meters (320 feet) of home. It also allows people to go to their workplaces if required.

St. Petersburg, with a population of about 5.5 million, has reported 50 cases of the coronavirus and one death.

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VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis’ vicar for Rome has tested positive for the coronavirus in the first case of a cardinal close to the pope known to be infected.

Cardinal Angelo De Donatis had been in touch with Francis in recent weeks — apparently not in person, however — over the cardinal’s initial decision to close all Rome churches in line with an Italian government shutdown decree.

De Donatis reversed himself after Francis intervened, and allowed diocesan churches to remain open for individuals to pray.

The pope is technically bishop of Rome, but he delegates the day-to-day running of the diocese to his vicar, De Donatis, 66. The Rome church said De Donatis was in good condition at Rome’s Gemelli hospital and was receiving antiviral treatment.

The Holy See has said six people have tested positive for the virus in the Vatican, none of them the pope or his closest advisers.

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ROME — Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza says Italy will follow the recommendation of scientists and extend a nationwide lockdown at least until April 12.

The lockdown decree currently runs until April 3, and doctors and other health experts have been cautioning that Italy’s cases of COVID-19 haven’t reached their peak yet, despite some encouraging numbers.

Speranza says the national scientific technical committee recommended “extending the containment measures at least until Easter,” April 12. He added: “The government will move in this direction.”

Italy has more than 100,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus infections and nearly 11,600 deaths of infected persons.

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GENEVA — The World Health Organization is citing “some evidence” that wearing face masks — if used improperly — could actually do more harm than good in the fight against the spread of the coronavirus.

WHO emergencies chief Dr. Michael Ryan said he was unaware of a move by officials in Austria to require people to wear face masks when they go to supermarkets.

With some countries facing shortages of masks, Ryan reiterated that WHO believes generally they should be worn by people who are ill, to prevent them from spreading the virus, and by health care workers who really need them.

“But there is no specific evidence to suggest that the wearing of masks by the mass population has any particular benefit — in fact, there’s some evidence to suggest the opposite,” he said.

Ryan didn’t elaborate beyond citing “risks” linked to fitting masks improperly, though he appeared to be alluding to how hands can carry virus up to or near the face as the masks are put on.

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Follow AP news coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

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